Qingli Dai

Dr. Dai’s concrete -related research has mainly dealt with concrete mix design, characterization, test, and analysis for sustainable civil infrastructure applications. She has recently worked on scrap tire rubber concrete for road construction and concrete structural components. Rubber concrete can improve fracture toughness and decrease brittleness. The well-distributed fine rubber particles in concrete can reduce internal stress subject to freeze-thaw damage and chemical attack for improved durability. In addition, the high-performance rubberized concrete was also developed with waste plastic fibers or recycled tire fibers. Her group has also improved concrete durability with embedded pH-sensitive hydrogel, bacteria-induced healing, and other self-regulation mechanisms. She serves as chair of the ACI subcommittee 555 OC and is a voting member for the ACI committee 555 (recycled materials) and 241 (nanotechnologies).

Dr. Dai’s mass timber-related research has conducted to 1) test and analyze mixed- species CLT panel behaviors (hybrid softwood and hardwood species), 2) Lateral Performance Simulation of Conventional CLT Shear Wall and Structure under earthquake loading, and 3) Dynamic response and performance of PT CLT shear wall and structure under earthquake and sequential earthquake-wind loadings.

Dr. Dai’s data-based resilience research includes 1) surface layer modulus prediction of asphalt concrete pavement based on LTPP database and machine learning for M-E rehabilitation, 2) pavement surface performance prediction including friction, distress, and freeze-thaw conditions under inclement weather, and 3) reliability assessment of electrical grids subjected to wind hazards and ice accretion with concurrent wind.

Dr. Dai has been one of the principal investigators of research projects funded by National Science Foundation, State Department of Transportation and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE). She has authored and co-authored more than 140 peer reviewed papers including 110 journal articles in prestigious national and international Journals. She is a member of ASCE granular material committee, bitumen committee, pavement Mechanics committee, and geophysics Committee. She is an associate editor for ASCE journal of Materials in Civil Engineering.

She has taught classes including Advanced Concrete Materials, Structure analysis, Matrix structural analysis, Finite element analysis, Advanced mechanics of materials.

Research Interests

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Concrete Materials

• Sustainable concrete materials: scrap tire rubber concrete, rubber concrete with waste plastic fibers or tire fibers, concrete mix design, early-age and hardened properties, durability, self-consolidating concrete, fiber-reinforced high-performance concrete
• Advanced material characterization: micro or nano x-ray CT, SEM, (U)SANS, SAXS, PDF
• Self-healing or self-regulation concrete with pH sensitive hydrogels, bacteria-induced healing, and damage and fracture simulation
• Internal curing concrete, pore structure analysis, thermodynamic- transport simulation of ASR and other transport behaviorsInternal curing concrete, early-age properties and concrete durability
• Sustainable infrastructure materials with recycled produces including scrap tire rubber and glass, and bio-waste materials such as lignin
• Nondestructive testing methods (ultrasonics, eddy current methods) damage detection and evaluation

Structure Related Research

• Active material-based actuator design, wind-structure interaction, dynamic blade vibration reduction
• Structure resilience on energy storage and power distribution system
• Test and simulation of properties of mixed-species CLT panels (with softwood and hardwood)
• Lateral dynamic responses of conventional and post-tensioned CLT shear wall subjected to earthquake or/and wind loads